Onion seeds starting!

• Happy New Year!

Onions!

It’s (almost) that time of year again

If you’re somewhere near the midwest/Great Lakes region, or anywhere, really, with a similar mid-May last frost, it’s nearly time to get those onion seeds planted.

Hard to believe that we’re back to January already. It wasn’t even that long ago that the fall garden was finishing and old vines were being pulled and added to the compost pile. Now, we shift back to the new plantings.

This year (so far) I will be trying four kinds of onions:

• Red Florence
• Australian Brown – these are old seeds, so we’re also testing how well they hold up over time (purchased for 2012 and 2015 seasons)
• Tosca
• White Lisbon (scallion/bunching onions)

If you do the math correctly, and with most onions wanting to move outdoors a couple weeks before last frost (give or take a couple weeks, depending on variety…) then:

Last frost: mid-May

Two weeks before: May 1

12 weeks before May 1 = February 1

What does this mean? It’s just about time to get those onions started. Do you have your supplies ready? Check out our “Garden Guide” Featured article “Seed Starting” for some more tips and a list of recommended seed starting supplies.

Here’s some seed starting inspiration for you…

It’s January, it’s cold and snowy and icy outside, and I didn’t really want to wait any longer. So, my onion seeds went in today. Hopefully seeing the fairly simple process will encourage you to find your seeds and get them planted, too! You’ve got a bit of time still.